Device for discriminating valuable papers with low power consumption

ABSTRACT

A device for discriminating valuable papers comprises a battery  1 ; a self-holding circuit  5  connected between battery  1  and drive controller  2  and capable of being switched between an active condition for supplying electric power to validation sensor  4  and drive controller  2  from battery  1  and an inactive condition for interrupting the power supply; a trigger element  6  for switching self-holding circuit  5  in the inactive condition to the active condition; and a shutoff circuit  7  having a control terminal connected to drive controller  2  for switching self-holding circuit  5  in the active condition to the inactive condition. Inactive condition of self-holding circuit  5  during the disuse period, saves electric power to extend service life and exchange cycle of battery  1.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a device for discriminating valuable papers,in particular, of the type which can control consumption of power from abattery by automatically switching the device from the activatingcondition to the de-activating condition during the disuse period oftime.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior art bill validators have been used for various kinds of billhandling machines such as vending machines, money exchangers and billdispensers installed all over the world. As shown in FIG. 12, a priorart bill validator comprises a conveyer 3 for transporting a billinserted from an inlet 33 along a passageway 34 to a stand-by position36; an inlet sensor 30 mounted at a front end of passageway 34 fordetecting bill inserted into inlet 33; a validation sensor 4 fordetecting optical or magnetic pattern of bill moving through passageway34 to produce detection signals; a stacking device 41 for stowing billmoved to the stand-by position 36 into an accumulation chamber 44; and adrive controller 2 for receiving detection signals from validationsensor 4, validating authenticity of bill and providing conveyer 3 andstacking device 41 with drive signals. Validation sensor 4 includes amagnetic sensor 22 such as magnetic head or Hall element for discerningmagnetic characteristics on bill transported along passageway 34, and anoptical sensor 21 such as photo-coupler for discerning opticalcharacteristics on or through bill. Drive controller 2 receivesdetection signals from validation sensor 4 and examines authenticity ofbill and decides a genuine or false bill based on the received detectionsignals. Passageway 34 includes a generally horizontal validation path34 a connected to inlet 33 at one end thereof; an arcuate path 35 havingan upper end connected to the opposite end of validation path 34 a frominlet 33; and the stand-by position 36 connected to a lower end ofarcuate path 35. Arcuate path 35 serves to divert passageway 34substantially an angle of 180 degrees to transport bill to stand-byposition 36 positioned under and in parallel to validation path 34 a.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a convey stacker 43 comprises a conveymotor 25; a pinion 70 mounted on an output shaft of convey motor 25; afirst gear 71 in mesh with pinion 70; a second gear 72 mounted on acommon rotation shaft for first gear 71; a third gear 73 engaged withsecond gear 72; a fourth gear 74 mounted on a common rotation shaft forthird gear 73; a fifth gear 75 mating with fourth gear 74; a sixth gear76 mounted on a common rotation shaft for fifth gear 75; a seventh gear77 in engagement with sixth gear 76; a eighth gear 78 mounted on acommon rotation shaft for seventh gear 77; a ninth gear 79 interlockingwith eighth gear 78; a tenth gear 80 mounted on a common rotation shaftfor ninth gear 79; and a eleventh gear 81 meshing with tenth gear 80.Eleventh gear 81 is mounted on a common rotation shaft for a conveyroller 32 which is rotatable along arcuate path 35. As shown in FIG. 13,two rubber rings 32 a are wound in parallel to each other around anouter cylindrical surface of convey roller 32 to transmit rotationalforce to bill through rubber rings 32 a in order to smoothly convey billalong arcuate path 35.

As shown in FIG. 15, eleventh gear 81 is provided with a drive beltpulley 84, and a drive belt 83 is wound around drive belt pulley 84 andsome idle belt pulleys. A driven belt pulley 84 is mounted on a commonrotation shaft for a convey belt pulley 26 around which a belt 27 iswound.

As shown in FIG. 14, attached to tenth gear 80 is a crank plate 55 whichsupports a pin 56 secured in an eccentric position on crank plate 55 torotatably connect one end of a connecting rod 57 to pin 56. The otherend of connecting rod 57 is rotatably connected to a shaft 59 located inan elongated opening 58 formed on frame wall; shaft 59 is rotatablyreceived in a hole formed at an end of a first link 60; and the otherend of first link 60 is pivotally connected to a push plate 40 through apin 61. A pin 62 rotatably connects each intermediate portion of firstand second links 60 and 63; one end of second link 63 is rotatablyattached to frame wall by a pin 64; the other end of second link 63 isrotatably and slidably attached to push plate 40. With rotation of crankplate 55, the other end of connecting rod 57 performs reciprocalmovement together with shaft 59 within elongated opening 58; reciprocalmovement of shaft 59 causes telescopic movement of first and secondlinks 60 and 63 to move push plate 40 toward and away from accumulationchamber 44 of stacking device 41. Convey motor 25 is electricallyconnected to drive controller 2 which rotates convey motor 25 in theadverse direction to rotate crank plate 55 when drive controller 2decides bill as genuine, and rotation of crank plate 55 causes extensionof first and second links 60 and 63 to move push plate 40 downward andstow bill by push plate 40 into accumulation chamber 44 of stackingdevice 41. Not shown but, as crank plate 55 is mounted on tenth gear 80through a uni-directional or one-way clutch, it is not rotated duringthe forward rotation of convey motor 25. Accordingly, only when conveymotor 25 is rotated in the adverse direction, crank plate 55 is rotatedto move push plate 40 between the original or retracted and extendedpositions.

Bill is transported to the stand-by position 36, and a holder 47retained in the horizontal condition serves to temporarily support arear end of bill substantially in the horizontal condition as shown bysolid line in FIG. 12. Then, bill in the stand-by position 36 is putinto accumulation chamber 44 of stacking device 41 when push plate 40 ismoved downward. At that time, holder 47 is rotated downward by a rearend of bill put into accumulation chamber 44 so that rear end of bill iscurved or deflected to override holder 47 and move under holder 47. Inthis way, pushed bill certainly is moved under holder 47 not to prevententry of a next bill to the stand-by position 36 by the sticking rearend of stacked bill and to avoid jamming of bill by the next bill.Rotatably mounted is a lever 46 which is resiliently urged and retainedto the horizontal position by a spring 49 so that passage of bill causeslever 46 to rotate against resilient force of tension spring 49 andallow passage of bill. Provided under convey device 3 is stacking device41 for storing bills to sandwich the stand-by position 36 between conveydevice 3 and stacking device 41.

In operation of the bill validator, when bill is inserted into inlet 33,inlet sensor 30 detects bill to produce a detection signal to the drivecontroller 2. Then, convey motor 25 is rotated in the forward directionto drive convey belt 27 through drive belt 83 so that bill is inwardlytransported along validation path 34 a. At this time, validation sensor4 converts magnetic and optical feature of bill into electric signals todrive controller 2 which then examines and decides a genuine or falsebill based on the received detection signals. When drive controller 2does not decide bill as genuine, it provides convey motor 25 withinverted signals in the way of conveyance to drive convey belt 27 in theadverse direction and thereby return bill from validation path 34 a toinlet 33. On the contrary, when drive controller 2 decides bill asgenuine, it continuously rotates convey motor 25 in the forwarddirection to transport bill along arcuate path 35 to the stand-byposition 36. At the moment, both sides of bill are supported on a pairof opposite side ribs 37 shown in FIG. 16, and rear end of bill issupported on holder 47, but push plate 40 is kept in the originalposition above the stand-by position 36. Then, drive controller 2rotates convey motor 25 in the adverse direction to rotate crank plate55. This causes first and second links 60 and 63 to extend as shown inFIG. 14 so that push plate 40 is moved into accumulation chamber 44 ofstacking device 41 to stow bill retained in the stand-by position 36 inaccumulation chamber 44 of stacking device 41. When push plate 40 cramsbill through an opening 39 formed between side ribs 37 into accumulationchamber 44, holder 47 is rotated downward from the horizontal positionto a certain angle against elastic force of tension spring 49. When billoverrides and moves away from holder 47, it is returned to the originalhorizontal position by elastic force of tension spring 48. Thereafter,when convey motor 25 is rotated in the adverse direction to rotate crankplate 55 an angle of nearly 360 degrees, first and second links 60 and63 are retracted to return push plate 40 from the stand-by position tothe upper original position.

In this way, when bill in the stand-by position is squeezed downwardinto accumulation chamber 44, lever 46 is rotated downward by rear endof pushed bill, and rear end of bill is curved or deflected to pass overand move under lever 46. In that way, reliable stowage of pushed billunder lever 46 allows a next bill to smoothly enter the stand-byposition 36 without barring entrance of subsequent bill into thestand-by position 36 by sticking out rear end of bill that results injamming of the subsequent bill. FIG. 17 shows an appearance of the billvalidator.

By the way, prior art bill validators are defective in consuming a largeamount of electric power because they always require continuouslyrunning current even during the inoperative period of validators.Therefore, prior art bill validators are unavailable without commercialpower supply. Otherwise, although batteries are provided in validators,more frequently batteries have to be exchanged for new ones or chargeddue to the large consumption power, and therefore, a bill validator ofpower saving type has still been required.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device fordiscriminating valuable papers capable of reducing power consumption byautomatically switching it from the active to the inactive conditionduring the inoperative period.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The device for discriminating valuable papers according to the presentinvention comprises a conveyer (3) for transporting a valuable paperinserted from an inlet (33) along a passageway (34) to a stand-byposition (36) of passageway (34); a validation sensor (4) for detectingoptical or magnetic pattern of the paper moving through the passageway(34) to produce detection signals; a stacking device (41) for stowingthe paper moved to the stand-by position (36) by the conveyer (3) intoan accumulation chamber (44); and a drive controller (2) for receivingdetection signals from validation sensor (4), validating authenticity ofbill and providing conveyer (3) and stacking device (41) with drivesignals. The discriminating device further comprises a battery (1); aself-holding circuit (5) connected between battery (1) and drivecontroller (2) and capable of being switched between an active oractivation condition for supplying electric power to validation sensor(4), drive controller (2) and conveyer (3) from battery (1) and aninactive or deactivation condition for interrupting the power supply; atrigger element (6) for switching self-holding circuit (5) in theinactive condition to the active condition; and a shutoff circuit (7)having a control terminal connected to drive controller (2) forswitching self-holding circuit (5) in the active condition to theinactive condition. When trigger element (6) is turned on, self-holdingcircuit (5) is switched from the inactive to the active condition tosupply electric power from battery (1) through self-holding circuit (5)to drive controller (2), validation sensor (4) and conveyer (3). Afterstacking device (41) stows valuable paper decided as genuine inaccumulation chamber (44), drive controller (2) forwards a controlsignal to control terminal of shutoff circuit (7) to switch self-holdingcircuit (5) from the active to the inactive condition. Inactivecondition of self-holding circuit (5) during the disuse period, saveselectric power to extend service life and exchange cycle of battery (1).Also, once trigger element (6) is turned on to switch self-holdingcircuit (5) to the active condition, electric power is automaticallysupplied from battery (1) to drive controller (2) although triggerelement (6) is turned off.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an electric circuit diagram for driving a bill validatoraccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section view of the bill validator according to the presentinvention with a cover closed.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the bill validator shown in FIG. 2 butwith the cover opened.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bill validator according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a condition of a bill inserted intoan inlet of the bill validator of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an operational sequence of the billvalidator according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the bill validator according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is an electric circuit diagram showing a second embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 9 is an electric circuit diagram showing a third embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 10 is an electric circuit diagram showing a fourth embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 11 is an electric circuit diagram showing a fifth embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a prior art bill validator.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of FIG. 12 but shown in section.

FIG. 14 is a side elevation view of a stacking device with a push platein the extended position.

FIG. 15 is a side elevation view showing a driving device.

FIG. 16 is a front view of the bill validator shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the bill validator shown in FIG. 12.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the discriminating device according to the presentinvention are described hereinafter in connection with FIGS. 1 to 11wherein the embodiments are applied to the bill validator shown in FIGS.12 to 17. Same symbols in FIGS. 1 to 11 denote similar elements to thoseshown in FIGS. 12 to 17, and detailed explanation thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the bill validator according to the presentinvention comprises a battery 1; a self-holding circuit 5 connectedbetween battery 1 and drive controller 2 and capable of being switchedbetween an active condition for supplying electric power to validationsensor 4, drive controller 2 and conveyer 3 from battery 1 and aninactive condition for interrupting the power supply; a trigger element6 for switching self-holding circuit 5 in the inactive condition to theactive condition; a shutoff circuit 7 having a control terminalconnected to drive controller 2 for switching self-holding circuit 5 inthe active condition to the inactive condition; and a stack sensor 42for detecting stacking operation of stacking device 41 for stowing abill into accumulation chamber 44 to produce a stack signal. Triggerelement 6 may for example include an automatic recovery switch which isturned on by opening operation of a cover 28 rotatably mounted adjacentto inlet 33 for receiving bill as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 or bypushing operation of a push button switch 29 shown in FIG. 7, and turnedoff by closing operation of cover 28 or by releasing pushing operationof push button switch 29. Not shown but, battery 1 is mounted in a framefor bill validator, and stack sensor 42 shown in FIG. 14 produces adetection signal to drive controller 2 when push plate 40 is returned tothe original position after it stuffs bill into accumulation chamber 44.Inlet sensor 20, validation sensor 4 and stack sensor 42 areelectrically connected through an amplifier 38 to corresponding inputterminals of drive controller 2 which has an output terminal connectedto a motor controller 24 of conveyer 3 for driving a convey motor 25under control.

Self-holding circuit 5 comprises a first transistor 8 as a firstswitching element connected in series between battery 1 and drivecontroller 2, and in parallel to a trigger element 6; and a secondtransistor 9 as a second switching element connected to a base terminalof first transistor 8. Base terminal of second transistor 9 is connectedto collector terminal of first transistor 8 and trigger element 6through a series circuit of a resistor 10 and diode 11, and emitterterminal of first transistor 8 is connected to battery 1. Base terminalof second transistor 9 is connected through a resistor 13 to ground andthrough a resistor 12 to a collector terminal of a third transistor 7 asa shutoff circuit. Emitter terminal of third transistor 7 is groundedand base terminal thereof is connected to drive controller 2. Drivecontroller 2 is connected through a limiting resistor 15 to a collectorterminal of first transistor 8. Battery 1 is connected to a converter 17accommodated in frame of bill validator through a diode 14 and an outerterminal 19 to charge battery 1 with electric current flowing throughconverter 17 from commercial power source 16.

Operation of the bill validator according to the present invention isdescribed hereinafter in connection with a flow chart shown in FIG. 6.

When the processing for the bill validator moves from “START” in Step100 to Step 101, the bill validator is in the inactive condition whereinboth of trigger element 6 and first transistor 8 are in the offcondition to interrupt power supply to any load, and therefore, there isno power consumption except dark current. When a cover 28 of FIG. 2 isrotated to open as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, trigger element or coverswitch 6 is turned on in Step 101 to pass electric current from chargedbattery 1 through trigger element 6, resistor 10 and diode 11 to baseterminal of second transistor 9 which is thereby turned on. Accordingly,base terminal of first transistor 8 becomes on ground or zero voltagelevel to turn first transistor 8 on so that electric current flows frombattery 1 through first transistor 8 to load and base terminal of secondtransistor 9. Thus, once trigger element 6 is turned on, secondtransistor 9 is retained on the conductive condition by electric currentthrough first transistor 8, although trigger element 6 is switched offthereafter. This means that, once self-holding circuit 5 is switchedfrom the inactive to the active condition, namely self-holding conditionin Step 102, self-holding circuit 5 keeps the self-holding condition tocontinuously supply electric power from battery 1 to drive controller 2and validation sensor 4 through self-holding circuit 5 although triggerelement 6 is switched off thereafter. Then, in Step 103, a timerprovided in drive controller 2 decides whether a predetermined period oftime has elapsed since trigger element 6 is turned on. When the timercounts the passage of the predetermined period of time (Step 104), theprocessing moves to Step 115, and drive controller 2 provides a signalto base terminal of third transistor 7 as a control terminal of shutoffcircuit. Therefore, third transistor 7 is turned on to turn secondtransistor 9 off because base terminal of second transistor 9 isgrounded, and thereby first transistor 8 is turned off. Accordingly,self-holding circuit 5 is shifted from the active to the inactivecondition to stop power consumption, and then, the process returns fromStep 116 to Step 100.

When bill is inserted into inlet 33 as shown in FIG. 5 under theself-holding or conductive condition of self-holding circuit 5 beforethe timer counts passage of the predetermined period of time, inletsensor 30 is turned on in Step 105 upon detection of inserted bill toproduce a detection signal to drive controller 2. Accordingly, in Step106, drive controller 2 sends drive signals to motor controller 24 torotate convey motor 25 in the forward direction; drive belt 83 andconvey belt 27 are driven to transport bill inwardly along passageway34; bill is scanned by validation sensor 4 of optical and magneticsensors 21 and 22 to perceive physical feature such as optical ormagnetic feature of bill in order to read data from bill; and the datais forwarded to drive controller 2.

In Step 107, drive controller 2 decides based on the detected datawhether bill is genuine or false. When drive controller 2 decides billas genuine, it further rotates conveyer 3 in the forward direction tomove bill toward the stand-by position 36. When bill is transported fromarcuate path 35 to the stand-by position 36, bill overrides and rotateslever 46 against resilient force of tension spring 49, and a vendingsensor (not shown) produces a vending signal to drive controller 2. Whenbill has thoroughly passed lever 46, and vending sensor has been turnedoff, bill reaches the stand-by position 36 above accumulation chamber 44for storing bills and convey motor 25 is stopped (Step 108). Then, inStep 109, drive controller 2 rotates convey motor 25 in the adversedirection to move push plate 40 downward and stuff bill in the stand-byposition into accumulation chamber with push plate 40. When stack sensor42 (FIG. 14) produces a detection signal, drive controller 2 decidescompletion of stacking (in Step 110), and stops adverse rotation ofconvey motor 25 in Step 114; the processing moves to Step 115; drivecontroller 2 provides base terminal of third transistor 7 as a controlterminal of shutoff circuit with a control signal to switch self-holdingcircuit 5 from the active to the inactive condition. Switching ofself-holding circuit 5 to the inactive condition during the disuseperiod enables repression of power consumption from battery 1 andextends service life and exchange cycle of battery 1. Also, once triggerelement 6 is turned on to switch self-holding circuit 5 to the activecondition, electric power is automatically supplied from battery 1 todrive controller 2 although trigger element 6 is turned off. Then, theoperation advances to Step 116.

When drive controller 2 cannot decide bill as genuine in Step 107, theprocessing moves from Step 107 to 112 wherein convey motor 25 is rotatedin the reverse direction to travel bill toward inlet 33. After rear endof bill passes inlet sensor 30 in Step 113, drive controller 2 stopsconvey motor 25 in Step 114, and the action goes to Steps 115 and 116wherein same treatments as mentioned above are done. In this way, thepresent invention, self-holding circuit 5 is shifted to the inactivecondition to stop power consumption from battery during the nonuseperiod of bill validator, thereby extending exchange or charge time ofbattery 1 for a very long period of time. Also, once trigger element 6is turned on to switch self-holding circuit 5 to the active condition,electric power can automatically be supplied to drive controller 2 frombattery 1 even when trigger element 6 is turned off. For example, ifbattery 1 comprises a lead battery of 12 volts for two minutes activecondition per one operation, the bill validator can attain more than 300times operations free of exchange or charge.

Embodiments of the present invention can be varies in various wayswithout limitation to the foregoing embodiment. For example, as shown inFIG. 1, battery 1 can be charged by electric current supplied through apair of outer terminals 19 to provide additional power source to drivecontroller 2, conveyer 3 or validation sensor 4. In addition, whencharged electric amount in battery 1 is reduced, battery 1 can becharged with electric current flowing through a converter 17 and outerterminals 19 from commercial AC power source 16 for re-use or continuoususe of battery 1. The present invention also contemplates direct powersupply to the bill validator from AC power source 16 if battery cannotproduce electric power. A rectifying diode 14 is provided betweenbattery 1 and outer terminal 19 to prevent a back flow from battery 1 toouter terminals 19.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 15, self-holding circuit 5 comprisesa thyristor 50 connected between battery 1 and drive controller 2.Trigger element 6 is connected to a gate terminal of thyristor 50through a resistor 23 and to battery 1, and shutoff circuit 7 can beconnected between two main terminals of thyristor 50. A junction betweentrigger element 6 and resistor 23 is grounded through a resistor 31.Like in the embodiment of FIG. 1, outer terminals 19 are connected tocommercial AC power source 16 through converter 17 and rectifying diode14 for reverse current protection to charge battery 1. Electric powermay directly be supplied from AC power source 16 to the bill validator.

In operation of the bill validator shown in FIG. 15, cover 28 of FIG. 2is opened as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 to turn on cover switch 6 as triggerswitch. Alternatively, push button 29 on front surface of the validatormay be manually operated. When cover switch 6 is turned on, a controlsignal is given from battery 1 through cover switch 6 and resistor 23 togate terminal of thyristor 50 to turn on between anode and cathodeelectrodes of thyristor 50. Accordingly, self-holding circuit 5 isshifted from the nonconductive to the conductive condition to supplyelectric power from battery 1 to drive controller 2. Subsequentoperation is similar to that in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 asabove-mentioned. In addition, when drive controller 2 provides a controlsignal to a base terminal of PNP transistor 7 as a shutoff circuit,transistor 7 is turned on to stop thyristor 50 because anode and cathodeelectrodes of thyristor 50 are on the same voltage level to switchself-holding circuit 5 from the active to the inactive condition andstop the validator.

Trigger element 6 is connected between battery 1 and self-holdingcircuit 5 to switch self-holding circuit 5 from the inactive to theactive condition. Trigger element 6 may be connected between emitter andcollector terminals of PNP transistor 7 to directly and temporarilysupply electric power to drive controller 2 which then shiftsself-holding circuit 5 from the inactive to the active or self-holdingcondition. Also, trigger element 6 may be a push button 29 shown in FIG.7 or infra-red ray sensor not shown for detecting human body.

As shown in FIG. 9, trigger element 6 may be connected between emitterand collector terminals of NPN transistor 9 as a second switchingelement for self-holding circuit 5. When trigger element 6 is turned on,base terminal of first transistor 8 is on the earth voltage level toturn first transistor 8 on so that electric current flows from battery 1through self-holding circuit 5 in the conductive condition to the billvalidator. Following operations of the validator are similar to those inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 10, trigger element 6 may be connected between battery1 and self-holding circuit 5 through a pulse generator 18 which mayinclude a one-shot multivibrator or a differentiating circuit forgenerating a pulse signal of a given pulse width. Upon voltage rise of asignal from trigger element 6 turned on, pulse generator 18 produces apulse to switch self-holding circuit 5 from the inactive to the activecondition, and thereafter, pulse generator 18 does not produce anyoutput although trigger element 6 is kept on.

FIG. 11 illustrates a further embodiment of the bill validator which hasone-chip microcomputer integrally involving self-holding circuit 5 anddrive controller 2. Not shown but the program-controlled microcomputercomprises a self-holding means capable of being switched between theactive condition for supplying electric power to drive controller 2 andconveyer 3 and the inactive condition for shutting off the power supply;and a shutoff means for switching the self-holding means to the inactivecondition. When trigger element 6 is turned on, an input terminal ofdrive controller 2 is grounded, and the self-holding means is shiftedfrom the inactive to the active condition. While the foregoingembodiments refer to bill validators, it should be understood that thepresent invention can be applied to validation of coupons, bank notes,securities or other valuable papers.

Shutoff of power supply from battery to the device for discriminatingvaluable papers during the disuse period can accomplish restriction ofpower consumption and power-saving from battery, extending service lifeof battery for a very long period of time.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The device for discriminating valuable papers according to the presentinvention can be mounted various kinds of bill handling apparatus suchas vending machines, bill exchangers, cash dispensers etc.

1. A device for discriminating valuable papers comprising: a conveyerfor transporting a valuable paper inserted from an inlet along apassageway to a stand-by position of the passageway; a validation sensorfor detecting an optical or a magnetic pattern of the paper movingthrough the passageway to produce detection signals; a stacking devicefor stowing the paper in the stand-by position into an accumulationchamber; a trigger element connected to a battery and turned on by anopening operation of a cover mounted adjacent to the inlet; a drivecontroller for receiving detection signals from the validation sensor,validating the authenticity of the paper and providing the conveyer andstacking device with drive signals, said drive controller comprising atimer for counting time elapse since the trigger element is turned on; aself-holding circuit connected between the battery and drive controllerand switched from an inactive to an active condition when the triggerelement is turned on to supply electric power from the battery throughthe self-holding circuit to the drive controller, validation sensor andconveyer; a shutoff circuit which has a control terminal for receiving acontrol signal from the drive controller to switch the self-holdingcircuit in the active to the inactive condition and thereby interruptthe power supply through the self-holding circuit; and a stack sensorfor detecting stowage of the paper into the accumulation chamber in thestacking device to produce a detection signal to the drive controller;wherein the drive controller is further operated to: i) rotate theconveyer in the forward direction to transport the paper to the stand-byposition, when the drive controller decides the paper inserted from theinlet is genuine; ii) provide the control signal for the shutoff circuitto switch the self-holding circuit from the active to the inactivecondition, when the drive controller receives a detection signal fromthe stack sensor; iii) rotate the conveyer in the adverse direction toreturn the paper to the inlet, when the drive controller does not decidethe paper inserted from the inlet is genuine; and iv) switch theself-holding circuit from the active to the inactive condition, when thetimer has counted a predetermined period of time.
 2. The device of claim1, further comprising: an inlet sensor for detecting insertion of thepaper, wherein electric power is supplied to the inlet sensor and drivecontroller after the self-holding circuit is switched to the activecondition; and wherein the drive controller drives the conveyer totransport the paper along the passageway after the self-holding circuitis switched to the active condition.
 3. The device of claim 1, whereinthe self-holding circuit comprises: a first switching element connectedin series between the battery and drive controller and in parallel tothe trigger element; and a second switching element connected to acontrol terminal of the first switching element; wherein a controlterminal of the second switching element is connected to the triggerelement and shutoff circuit.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein theself-holding circuit comprises a thyristor; the trigger element isconnected to a gate terminal of the thyristor; and the shutoff circuitis connected to two main terminals of the thyristor.
 5. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the trigger element comprises an automatic resettingswitch or infrared ray sensor for detecting a human body.
 6. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the battery can be electrically charged by electriccurrent supplied through outer terminals and a converter connected to anAC power source.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein the trigger elementcomprises a pulse generator for producing a pulse to switch theself-holding circuit from the inactive to the active condition when thetrigger element is turned on.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein there isno power consumption except dark current when the trigger element is inthe off condition.